Archive for December, 2007

The Truth has collected his second Player of the Week Award. Pierce averaged 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals as the Celtics went 4-0 on their West coast road trip. Here’s another look at his kick-ass week, courtesy of NBA.com.

Dec. 26 @ Sacramento: Tallied 16 points, four rebounds and six assists in an 89-69 win over the Kings.Dec. 27 @ Seattle: Poured in 37 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists in a 104-96 win over the SuperSonics.Dec. 29 @ Utah: Collected 24 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 104-98 win over the Jazz.Dec. 30 @ LA Lakers: Notched 33 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals in a 110-91 win over the Lakers.

Am I being a Heinsohn-esque homer? Maybe. But one of those two guys is a petulant douchebag that tasted the good life early and has become a whiny bitch because of it… and the other has largely been loyal to a bad team in hopes of winning a ring. Yes, Paul Pierce had that temper-tantrum meltdown in the playoffs a few years ago… but he followed that up by patching things up with Doc. And yes, there were rumors of Pierce demanding a trade this offseason… but those never materialized… and Kobe was spending that time all over YouTube telling his fans to “buy a Bulls jersey.”

“I don’t know what it feels like to wear a thong, but I imagine it feels something like what we had on in the first half,” he said with a grin. “I felt violated. I felt naked. It’s one thing to see films with guys wearing those things. … I’d rather stay warm, man.”

If anyone knows anything about being violated… it’s Kobe.

Here are today’s links… along with a picture, by request, of Paul Pierce letting everyone know just how hot he was last night (click photo for larger version).

THIS… is what the rivalry is all about. Physical play (KG’s busted eye), emotions running high (7 technical fouls), and of course… a Celtics win.

Paul Pierce was AWESOME in the third quarter of this game. Check that… Paul Pierce was pretty much awesome on this whole road trip. Paul had 33 points in this one… to go along with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. 3 of those steals came in waning minutes of the 3rd quarter… where Paul went on a personal 10-0 run to put the Lakers away. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant shot 6-25… and only managed 22 points because he was 10-11 from the line.

It’s hard to sum up this game… because there’s so much to say. KG getting blasted… then coming back out PISSED… and finishing 22 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks. Tony Allen (16 points, 4 asst. 3 reb) filling in nicely for Rajon Rondo. The Celtics D holding the Lakers to 35% shooting. The Lakers coming out in the hot-pants… then switching to the long shorts at half time. Lamar Odom hitting Ray Allen like a free safety trying to jar the ball loose from a wide receiver. I hope David Stern’s people were watching.

Meanwhile, the word of the weekend is undefeated. The Celtics went undefeated on this road trip… and they’re STILL undefeated on back-to-back nights. The C’s are undefeated this year against the Lakers… the first time they’ve swept LA since 2000-2001. And of course… our Patriots are still undefeated… period.

And best of all… Phil Jackson will have to beat someone else to pass Red Auerbach on the all-time regular season wins list.

For Celtics fans, 2007 was clearly a year of two halves. In the first six months, we suffered through losing streaks (capped by a franchise record 18 gamer), injuries (Paul Pierce, Tony Allen), stupidity (Sebastian Telfair’s arrest), frustration (Gerald Green’s regression) and heartbreak (the draft lottery). But the negative karma came to a screeching halt in mid-June thanks to blockbuster deals for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. There’s a new Big 3 and renewed dreams of a championship. Here’s a look back at the year that was.

Anyone who watched wrestling during the 80s knows the Road Warriors were the best tag-team ever. They were bad asses who demolished opponents. I like to think the Celtics are taking on their personality. After last night’s 104-98 win over Utah, the Green are 3-0 on this West coast swing. Next up are the surprisingly good LA Lakers. Let’s beat LA (which is always a good thing), sweep this road trip, and then give the big middle finger salute to all nay-sayers who kept whining, “But the Celtics haven’t gone out West yet.” Can you tell I have a chip on my massive shoulders?

“Garnett is very good, but if he had the pressure on him to score like Kobe does every night, there’s a difference,” said West. “Kevin is going to be a great, great player every night in all facets of the game.

“But the other one has a little bit different kind of cachet to him. You’re going to pay to see Kevin Garnett play, but you’re just going to see a tremendously good basketball player.

“The degree of excitement with Kobe Bryant is like going to an action movie instead of seeing a great film. Kevin Garnett would be in a great film and Kobe Bryant would be the action-hero figure. He’s going to supply the jumps off the tops of bridges, dunks, going through 10 people, driving to make a layup.”

You are right Jerry. Kobe is the action star. The guy behind all those $100 million movies. But KG is the celebrity who is putting his ego aside, starring in the low-budget indy flick so he can win an Oscar. I am so tired of all this Kobe praise. He’s divisive and selfish. Period. And when things went south, he pointed fingers at everyone but himself. He wanted out of an organization that stood by him during his rape trial. Talk about ungrateful. Not to mention he hasn’t won jack since Diesel drove out of LA.

The Celtics may have picked up their most impressive win of the season tonight yet I barely watched 3 minutes of this game. Can you blame me? The Giants decided to show up and play the Patriots tough for 3 quarters. But in the end, you just knew Tom Brady would thrive and Eli Manning would throw-up in his mouth. Enough about that, the C’s just beat the Jazz 104-98 in Utah. Paul Pierce dropped 24 in the second half after being held scoreless in the first. So that makes us 3-0 on this gut-check road trip. To all the doubters….we told you so. The Celtics are legit. Imagine how good we’ll feel tomorrow when the C’s smoke the Lakers to complete a perfect West coast swing.